Former Guggenheim curator and present Val Alen Institute director David van der Leer was a recent juror for the Architizer A+ Awards. Here's what the co-creator of "stillspotting nyc" had to say about the value of urban studies, his new position in New York's public realm, and the beauty of his home country's architecture.
You were the Associate Curator of Architecture and Urban Studies at the Guggenheim. For our readers who aren't familiar with the discipline of urban studies, how would you characterize it?
My official titles are simultaneously Curator, BMW Guggenheim Lab and Associate Curator, Architecture and Urban Studies. Many museums focus on Architecture and Design, but we decided to shift our focus slightly and look at cities around the world in several of our programs as that is where some of the most pressing issues of our times come to play. We have been doing this through interdisciplinary projects that almost always include architects and urbanists, but also bring in artists, composers and other cultural producers to highlight urban problems or think of solutions for them through installations, studies, designs and public programs.
At the Guggenheim, you were involved in leading the Guggenheim Lab project, which ended its run in Mumbai earlier this year. What type of work did you do there?
Our Mumbai run was a fascinating. With an amazing team of local practitioners and thinkers we focused on issues of privacy in relation to public space through public programs, studies as well as installations and neighborhood gatherings in six different neighborhoods in this truly gigantic city. The beauty of the Lab is that it brings together audiences from different ages and different social and economic backgrounds. Many of them live in the city on a day-to-day basis but are usually not part of the official discourse on urban issues. By bringing them into these conversations we hope to break open the otherwise rather dry discourse and provide everyday urban citizens with better tools to speak up about their lives in the city.
Another project you were in charge of was "stillspotting nyc," which involved a group of architects, artists, designers, and even composers who worked to transform "still spots" in the city. What qualified as a still spot? Did you have a favorite spot?
Stillspotting NYC was a wonderful poetic project in which we brought together academic research with beautiful installations in the five boroughs. The still spots were all very different, ranging from a temporary clinic for urban therapy in downtown Brooklyn by the Mexican artist Pedro Reyes, to storytelling sessions on the concept of the home in apartments around Jackson Heights in Queens with the architects at So-IL, to the 9/11 installation around Lower Manhattan with the Estonian composer Arvo Part. I am hesitant to say I had a favorite one, but what touched me most were the sometimes very emotional responses of New Yorkers to the project. We saw tears, laughter and people coming back for repeat visits.
Now you are moving to the director position at the Van Alen Institute. What will be your focus there?
The Van Alen Institute has nurtured a significant debate around architecture and design in the United States, and I am excited to extend its impact on the analysis, advice, and activation of designs, public policies, and experiences of the public realm to an international audience through an increasingly coherent mix of interdisciplinary competitions, research, consultancy, and curatorial projects. And I am sure over the course of the summer and fall I can give you more insights on the particular direction we will be developing there with the team.
Beyond these roles, you also joined the jury for the Architizer A+ Awards. What sets apart this award from others?
I was very enthusiastic about the wide variety of entries -- all so wildly different. Going through them as juror was really inspiring, and for me personally an interesting way to get acquainted to some wonderful new projects around the world that I had not seen yet earlier.
Last Question: Architecturally, how does New York compare to the other cities you've lived in? If you could identify an architecture capital of the world, where would it be?
New York is a wonderful place in many urbanistic ways, but perhaps less so for its architecture; although I must say I had the pleasure of working in one of its most remarkable buildings -- the Guggenheim Museum designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. I am originally from the Netherlands and there are only a few countries where there is such a high quantity of super high-quality architecture in such a small place. I suggest you all go and book your trips to scope out Amsterdam and perhaps even more importantly Rotterdam (my previous home base).
See a selection of the Architizer A+ winners below and let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Architizer A+ Awards
Correction: In an earlier version of this interview, we misspelled "Architizer" in the headline. We apologize for the error.